Battle of Kleidion (1014)

Timeline

1. 1014Kleidion pass · BulgariaBasil II advanced from Constantinople through Thrace into the Strymon valley, where at Kleidion he encountered Samuel's defensive line of wooden palisades with roughly 15,000–20,000 troops; repeated frontal assaults were repulsed.
2. 1014Belasica Mountains · Bulgaria–Greece borderGeneral Nikephoros Siphias led infantry over the Belasica Mountains, slipping into the rear of the Bulgarian army from the south, and on July 29 launched a surprise attack from high ground, leaving the defenders caught between two forces.
3. 1014Battlefield of Kleidion · BulgariaBasil II broke through the palisades as imperial cavalry pursued the fleeing Bulgarians; historians record some 15,000 captured. Samuel himself escaped, but the Bulgarian main force was devastated.